Fire David Letterman for Sexual Harrassment
72David Letterman Is Not Above the Law and Is Not the only Victim Here
David Letterman, the well know talk show host was threatened to be bilked out of millions for having office affairs. The blackmailer has been aprehended, however, David Letter admitted that he has had an affair with office members. In fact, David Letterman is now captalizing on his mischief by joking the the GPS woman would not speak to him on his car's GPS navigation system because of his affairs.
Sexual harrassment should not be tolerated in any office situation no matter how famous the perpetrator. It is not alright to blackmail anyone either because of office mischief, but the black mailers would not have a person to blackmail if David Letterman had been dealt with by the television executives. One would say that David Letterman's plights into the office bedrooms of his coworkers were mutually agreed upon so there is no basis for sexual harrassment. Would a co worker say no to the big boss if she may lose her job. She may not say it verbally, but when jobs are hard to come by, it is certain that a man of David Letterman's stature would have caused women to say yes just to keep their jobs.
David Letterman is proving that he can do what he pleases as long as he keeps his top ten list running on schedule. Jay Leno has been pushed back to 10:00 pm with Conan O'Brien replaced him at his usual 11:00 slot. Why not move David Letterman to Jay Leno's time slot as a punitive action to teach him that he can not play around with the office help and then act like everything is business as usual. David Letterman is much of an American Icon and is riding the popularity of Johnny Carson, a former late night talk show host who replace Jack Parr. And he continues to ride the late night circuit as Americans continue to laugh at him making light of his sexual harassment issues.
It would be surprising if David Letterman has not made a top ten list of the office workers that he had fun with while under his employ. David Letterman is now married and the office affairs occurred before the marriage but he was still dipping in the ink that had to do with his livlihood. Any one of a lesser stature in society would be hiring a sexual harrassment lawyer and being quiet about the matter. David Letterman has got to be more careful about his public image as he recently harrassed Salin Palin's daughter when the two were in New York in reference the daughter getting pregnant while in New York. David Letterman laughed that away and even provided an apology. A public apology would be appreciated for the office workers who may have feared for the loss of their jobs if they had said no to the big shot.
Maybe no one is interested where a middle aged man like David Letterman rests his laurels when it comes to his bedroom escapades. But the public do not need to hear David Letterman glide over the sexual harassment issue that many women are facing in the workplace on a daily basis. David Letterman should be told to let the issue go and to let his lawyers handle the case, the latter of which has been done. Sexual harassment does not need to be treated as lightly and with the humor that David Letterman is attributing to the public offense.
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Comments
Concur with you Linda, I would also suspect that CBS has a clear and definitive policy on this that he has probably violated, now the question is weather or not they will stand by the policy or put advertising dollars at risk. My guess would be that the dollars will rule the day. Thanks for a great hub.
Sexual harassment is a reality in the workplace, and i know what it's like for women to be victimized by bosses who know they can take advantage of their employees and get away with it. Nobody should be above the law. This is not a laughing matter.
IslandVoice, thank you for your comment. Newspaper accounts centered on the blackmailer and less on exactly what went on with the Letterman affairs. I suppose the man who tried to black mail Letterman wasn't up for a promotion. The papers reported that he was experiencing financial problems but he would not have been in the running anyway. It is what it is.
Hmrjmr1, the office workers are considered the little people and advertising dollars are not effected by their job status. As relaxed as David Letterman has been, the execs will surely keep him on and also keep the advertising endorsements. It should be a play on morality, ethics and big business but the latter wins everytime.
Islandvoice, I agree with you that sexual harassment is not a laughing matter. It is akin to getting what you want with no regard to the people involved, which is heartless. No details have been given on the number of women affected but all indications are that he had affairs with more than one on the television payroll.
Islandvoice, I agree with you that sexual harassment is not a laughing matter. It is akin to getting what you want with no regard to the people involved, which is heartless. No details have been given on the number of women affected but all indications are that he had affairs with more than one on the television payroll.
Who says he victomized anyone he had an affair with? He simply had consentual sex with someone who works on the show. There may or may not be a company policy to date co-workers but that has not been disclosed.
If anything...he was the victom. Where can someone like David Letterman go out and find someone to have a relationship with? He can't go on match.com, or any of those sites, he can't go to a bar / club and meet people that way and he isn't the type that goes to the NY or Hollywood parties to mingle. He is around his staff and sometimes sparks fly etc.
I doubt Letterman forced anyone to have sex with him. I doubt he threatened them with losing thier job either. This is all speculation and it seems that you are blowing this completely out of proportion since you only know what was talked about in the news or from himself.
Also, his jokes were damn funny about the whole deal. I rarely find him funny and usually don't watch his show at all so this is all coming from someone who is not a fan.
People forgive him very fast as the rating goes up for his apology..
Adam B, thank you for your comment. A American Icon of David Letterman's stature does not lite onto office workers when he has others more in tune with him in which to associate. He should not joke about his liasons especially when criminal charges are involved. Sexual harrassment is not always vocal depending on who is involved. The fact that he had multiple affairs indicate that he was just playing around with the subordinate. David Letterman is now married and I see that he did not marry one of the office workers. CBS is happy to have to as a fan now are are pleased to put their advertising dollars to work.
Lgali, thank you for your comment. David Letterman apologized after he was threatened to be blackmailed. I think that apology under duress is not an apology at all but a statement made under duress. Anyway, he is still in business as the ratings went up as you said.
Yet another celeb caught out ,and making light of it -typical,of course he went public when he knew the game was up.Its almost as if hes saying its someones elses fault.
Amen! You're exactly right! If men such as myself can lose employment because of sexual harassment, then the same ought to hold true for Letterman. CBS needs to play fair about this issue and kick Letterman out on his can.
Yep, PeeDee...you're right.
khoustello, thank you for your comment.
ThePeeDeeWildcat, thank you for your comment.
Although I understand where you are coming from, I do not agree that Letterman should be fired. For one thing, he technically cannot be fired because his show is owned by his production company, Worldwide Pants.
Also, I think we need to keep in mind that Letterman is an entertainer. If Clinton was able to keep his job after numerous indiscretions, and lying to our country on national television, why shouldn't Dave keep his? Sadly, nothing is sacred anymore when it comes to marriage or relationships. And these women are just as much to blame as Dave is. None of them have come forward to claim that their job was in danger, in fact, the one female still speaks with Dave and completely respects him. he owned up to his mistakes, instead of running from them. Life goes on, and so will we. People are blowing this way out of woods.
LaLalayla, thank you for your comment. President Clinton was investigated in his sexual relationship publically. Everyone remembers the famous blue dress and he emphatically denying the allegations and then admitting that he did in fact have an affair. Even if David Letterman is owner of his own production company of which I have not done any research, it still remains to be seen that the advertisers would at least reacted. Sponsors should not be silent about this issue also unless they agree that who you are in this country depends on how much you can get away with. I do not think that people are blowing this issue out of proportions. I think that David Letterman is making too light of the issue. If Oprah had to go to court about a remark concerning cows, surely David Letterman should account for his office affairs though he was made to look like the victim.
As someone noted already, Letterman is not actually an employee of CBS, but the production company "World Wide Pants" I wonder why no one came forward before? I think people are making too big deal out of this, when there are much more important things going on in the world. But a free society allows that we can speak freely, so you go girl :)
What is all this nonsensical talk about sexual harrassment?How do you know who initiated consensual sex in that environment?Very often , it is the female subordinate who initiates flirting with a highly-placed man in a position of authority, especially if they are in awe of him.
Letterman probably just availed himself of gifts which were offered to him on a plate; after all, no- one claims they were coerced in all this.
Just goes to show that it doesn't matter if you're ugly if you're famous.
The shallowness of his persona and the show in general has been mesmerizing people for years and years, and that he's such an offender doesn't amaze me. For a long time now I've not been able to watch his show because it's such tasteless tripe.
Someone commented recently that he's basically a shy guy, but surely not with his staff and other associated females. Let's face it, the power of his influence and wealth over others has occurred, has been abused, and i would bet he's hoping that it will blow over, that america - the same america that voted Bush in for a second term - will look the other way, forgive and let him go on unfazed by his dreadful nonsense that passes for humor!
That anyone would comment that the women around him tantalize him is ridiculous! Why are some still in the dark ages when it comes to an important person abusing the power differential between self and subordinate others, not to mention what kind of man stoops to sex play with associates lower down on the ladder!
I hope the network let's one and all "pin the tail on the donkey" and then fling him harshly onto the dungheap of all offenders...!
Interesting topic written in a very passionate manner. I waiver on this one though, I agree it is inappropriate for a 'boss' to show favoritism and/or have affairs with employees, generally high profile 'bosses' have more to lose and less to gain so it was definitely a bad move on Letterman's part! *BUT* I have personally witnessed two (count em, TWO) similar incidents at the same large organization i worked for some 15 odd years ago - one male & one female (1 involved a relationship the other straight forward harassment)Unfortunately in both cases it was NOT the supervisor/department director who instigated the affair/harassment, but the employees - one planned out well, the other in order to avoid being fired for poor performance. For these reasons I usually wait-N-see now, It is hard to say who holds the most blame or responsibility.
recoveringdj, thank you for your comment. You are the second commenter who put ownership of a company as a reason of acceptability of David Letterman's actions. Civil liberties are above ownership of companies and women have the right to go to a work place and not to be sexually harrassed by the boss because he owns the company. David Letterman may own his own production company but that company pays corporate taxes as well as payroll taxes that makes it a viable entity for a lawsuit as unfortunately the blackmailer realized before being apprehended. However, on the other side of the spectrum, you have women coming to work to do a honest day's work and then to be plucked out by the boss to be a playmate. Ownership of a company does not mean that you can override or waiver the civil liberties of women who are at work to do a good job and not to be a product of sexual harrassment.
The overwhelming implications are that there was/is pressure on employees to have sex with David Letterman. "Compliance" is about getting the break, and hopefully moving forward, but once in his employ, it's obvious that certain women were expected to "pay the rent" of keeping their job. Notice the media has reported that men of equal position on Letterman's show NEVER had equal opportunity for advancement, etc.
Arrogance is what fuels such attitude in people like Letterman. What consequences he faces now are his doing. People who complied with his demands no doubt have their own consequences, which may be a mixture of good and bad, however, in most such cases the person involved usually does not come away thinking their experience was a positive one.
Letterman's show may get good ratings for a while, but there is an undercurrent of public comment that is presently growing which is NOT good.
Although Letterman cannot technically be fired, CBS could drop his contract, therefore, basically creating the same scenario as fired. However, all that will need time to be fully determined.
mrhayford, thank you for your comment. You joined Hubpages four days ago and have no fans. David Letterman owns a big production company and all references are speculations but the affairs were real and did involve female employees consenting or otherwise.
Stan F. Thank you for your comment.
Stan F. Thank you for your comment.
Danerobb, thank you for your comment. You are very good at voicing your opinion and I suggest that you write more hubpage articles. I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion about the David Letterman situation. Should we now enter the phrase, "Only in America?"
Daniel Carter, thank you for your comment.
Daniel Carter, thank you for your comment.
the only thing David letterman is guilty of is cheating on his girlfriend.to my understanding it takes two to be in an affair.
bill yon, thank you for your comment. The print media mentioned that David Letterman had quite a lot of office affairs. So, that would be like Jon and Kate Plus Eight except the caption would read David Letterman Plus One Office Worker and Plus more Female Office Workers. Has Mr.Letterman done a top ten listing the lower paid office worker and then the number one that led to his present wife?
Well, at they say, it just depends on who's ox is being gored (my apologies to any PETA members reading this!). My point is - is that is just depends who you are and what your status in life is.
If you are Bill Clinton - then your affair with an Intern is just a private matter between two people which no one should criticize or make a big deal over. Abuse of power?
He's the "prez". That's just Bubba being Bubba! I mean - Presidents have private lives too. And there seemed to be little to no consequences from people who helped support his behavior. For instance take James Carville and George Stephanolpoulos.
The women who made accusations about "Bill's" sleazy behavior, i.e., Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey were categorized by the dynamic duo as "bimboerruptions". Very apropos!
Neither one of them (Carville or Stephanolpoulos) suffered the slings and arrows of public or moral outrage. Carville is a frequent propagandist for the Democratic party and has a steady gig as a CNN commentator.
Stephanolpoulos who, with Carville, was accused by Jenifer Flowers of orchestrating a campaign to defame her, is the ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent! Grant it that the lawsuits against both "C" and "S" were dismissed - but I would "not suspend all disbelief" if he was part and parcel of such an effort.
Bottom line is that they suffered no "pox" on their houses! Reward bad behavior and those associated with it as long as you like the people involved! That seems to be the way of the world these days. My point is - is that SH is defined by who you are and not what you do. There is a "sudden death" of outrage when the accused is someone of wealth, fame, or a particular political/ideological "bend".
Never heard too much complaining from the National Organization Of Women President when Clinton was up to his shenanigans. They seem to have raised their eyebrows enough with Dave - but too little too late. In my eyes they are no longer a credible organization.
We will see if Letterman suffers any consequences from some of the SH suits (if anyone does file suit) might present. For now - it seems the studio - as well as Dave - is treating this as just another late night joke.
Deo Vindice.....
Robert - The Trade Show Booth Display Guy
Tom Cornett says:
2 months ago
It is almost impossible to prove sexual harassment in that kind of situation. Letterman shouldn't be having sex with co-workers as they shouldn't be having sex with him. Some (note I said some) women and men use sex to climb corporate ladders, especially in the entertainment industry. It is a sad but common practice.